The 13 Best Flying-Matters Commanders in Magic Ranked

Last updated on November 2, 2025

Sephara, Sky's Blade | Illustration by Livia Prima

Recently, a strange bird has woken me up every morning after choosing a tree near my house as its new resting spot. It got me thinking about two things: First, how amazing it would be to have flying myself, and second, which commanders in Magic: The Gathering make the most out of flying? That’s right, today we’re going to dive into the best flying-matters commanders and explore why building around this keyword can be so powerful.

Intrigued about what this list holds? Let's get to it!

What Are Flying Commanders in MTG?

Kangee, Sky Warden | Illustration by Dan Scott

Flying commanders in Magic: The Gathering are legendary creatures that often have flying, but more importantly, reward you for building around the keyword. Since flying is one of the best ways to dodge blockers, these commanders often make your evasive creatures more dangerous, more consistent, or more rewarding to play.

Flying commanders often generate extra value while keeping steady pressure in the air. That could mean protecting your board, creating new threats, or turning combat into an advantage every turn. Because flying is a top-tier form of evasion, these commanders are popular choices for players who want to control the skies and steadily outpace their opponents.

Honorable Mentions

While Kaalia of the Vast, Raffine, Scheming Seer, and Derevi, Empyrial Tactician are among the most played commanders across multiple formats, they don’t care about the flying keyword itself. Instead, their strategies benefit from creatures that already have evasion, and fliers naturally fall into that category. Kaalia is famous for cheating massive angels, demons, and dragons straight into combat, many of which happen to fly. That makes it a powerful aerial threat, even if its text doesn’t directly reward the keyword.

Raffine, on the other hand, builds value by conniving during attacks, scaling up with more creatures swinging in. Fliers are a natural fit since they connect more reliably, making Raffine’s effect consistent. Meanwhile, Derevi shines as a tempo engine, letting you tap or untap permanents whenever creatures deal combat damage. Evasive creatures like birds or spirits with flying make sure those triggers keep rolling. All three commanders lean on fliers, but their game plans aren’t locked to flying synergies, which is why they work best as broader evasive creature strategies rather than pure flying-matters builds.

#13. Siani, Eye of the Storm

Siani, Eye of the Storm brings consistency to flier decks through its scry ability. Every time you attack with fliers, you dig deeper into your deck, smoothing draws and finding the tools you need. With a board full of evasive creatures, you’ll always be a step ahead of opponents in terms of card quality.

Siani really shines with Eligeth, Crossroads Augur. Turning every scry into straight card draw is absurd value, especially when your fliers trigger Siani every combat. Together, the two create an engine that both filters and fuels your hand while pressuring opponents with evasive damage. This makes the combo one of the most beloved partner pairings in any flier-focused deck.

#12. Isperia the Inscrutable

When Isperia the Inscrutable connects in combat, it becomes a tutor engine for fliers. By guessing a card correctly from an opponent’s hand, you can search your library for any flying creature, adding reliability to the overall strategy. This makes it perfect for assembling key pieces in sphinx tribal, spirits, or any deck with a strong mix of evasive creatures.

Pairing Isperia with hand-reveal cards like Telepathy or Gitaxian Probe ensures you never miss. Once you’re tutoring consistently, you can chain together threats like Consecrated Sphinx and Dragonlord Ojutai, building an unstoppable aerial force. Isperia requires setup, but rewards clever deckbuilding and strong sequencing.

#11. Millicent, Restless Revenant

Millicent, Restless Revenant is a powerhouse spirit commander that floods the skies. With its affinity for spirits, it comes down cheaper than expected, and once on the field, it continuously produces 1/1 flying spirit whenever your other spirits die or deal damage. This makes it both aggressive and resilient as you’ll rarely run out of threats.

The tokens naturally fuel spirit synergies, working especially well with cards like Supreme Phantom or Drogskol Captain. Millicent thrives in decks that lean into tribal buffs and recursion, rewarding you for simply playing the game and attacking. Over time, the constant token production creates an overwhelming air force that’s hard to deal with.

#10. Donal, Herald of Wings

Getting twice the payoff for your creatures makes Donal, Herald of Wings a blast to build around. Whenever you cast a nonlegendary flier, Donal lets you create a 1/1 copy of it, turning even modest cards into twice the value. Mulldrifter suddenly draws four cards instead of two, showing just how quickly this ability can snowball into overwhelming advantage.

Since the effect only triggers once per turn, careful sequencing becomes important. You need a steady flow of cheap fliers or spells to keep Donal’s ability rolling every turn cycle. Add in anthem effects like Favorable Winds or Supreme Phantom, and even the smallest spirit tokens turn into legitimate threats. Donal makes every turn feel like an opportunity to expand your aerial dominance.

#9. Alela, Cunning Conqueror

Alela, Cunning Conqueror plays a sneaky, reactive game plan that rewards casting spells on opponents’ turns. Each time you do, you get a 1/1 Faerie Rogue with flying, which builds up an army of evasive threats in no time. On top of that, those faeries goad enemy creatures, forcing opponents to turn against each other.

Because the deck is naturally spell-heavy, cards like Mystical Tutor or Swan Song slot in easily while also fueling your token engine. Over time, your faerie army grows while your opponents are kept off balance by goaded creatures. This makes Alela both disruptive and explosive, perfect for players who like a tricky, interactive playstyle.

#8. Cynette, Jelly Drover

It might not grab attention right away, but Cynette, Jelly Drover quietly provides excellent value in any flier deck. Creating a 1/1 Jellyfish with flying when it enters and again when it dies means you’re never left empty-handed, and the built-in anthem pumps every other flier you control. Over time, those little boosts make your board far more threatening than it first appears.

What makes Cynette shine is how easily it slots into go-wide strategies. Token makers like Murmuring Mystic or Access Denied become even scarier when every body comes in stronger. Since Cynette is both cheap to cast and offers value twice, it’s a flexible option that feels right at home in casual builds as well as more tuned flier lists.

#7. Sephara, Sky’s Blade

Sephara, Sky's Blade is one of the scariest flier payoffs you can run. By tapping four fliers, you can cheat it out for just one white mana, making a 7/7 lifelink angel appear far earlier than expected. Once in play, all your other fliers gain indestructible, making your army almost impossible to wipe away.

This makes Sephara perfect for token-heavy flier decks, where you’ll always have the creatures needed to bring it out cheaply. Cards like Spectral Procession or Battle Screech ensure you can pay the alternate cost with ease. The resulting deck shrugs off sweepers and wins through sheer inevitability.

#6. Inniaz, the Gale Force

Causing all kinds of table politics, Inniaz, the Gale Force doesn’t just reward you for filling the board with fliers—it stirs up chaos with every attack. Its pump ability makes even small evasive creatures hit harder, but the real excitement comes from forcing players to swap nonland permanents whenever three or more of your fliers attack. That effect keeps everyone guessing and makes combat much more than just damage calculation.

The trick is to lean on throwaway tokens like those from Spectral Procession or Midnight Haunting, trading them up for far stronger enemy pieces. Add flicker spells or bounce to snag back what you’ve given away, and suddenly you’re breaking the symmetry of Inniaz’s ability. This commander thrives on disruption while maintaining air superiority.

#5. Momo, Friendly Flier

Momo, Friendly Flier is a lightweight flier commander that helps you curve out faster. By reducing the cost of the first non-Lemur flier each turn, it smooths out your tempo and keeps the board filling with evasive threats. On top of that, Momo gets stronger whenever another flier enters, making it a cheap but damaging threat. The discount ability pairs nicely with big fliers or even utility pieces like Welcoming Vampire.

#4. Kangee, Sky Warden

Attacking with Kangee, Sky Warden turns your entire army into powerhouses, giving all fliers +2/+0. Blocking with it, on the other hand, boosts toughness instead, letting you hold back effectively. That dual role makes Kangee perfect for both offense and defense, depending on what the board demands.

The strategy leans heavily on creating lots of fliers, and token makers like Battle Screech or Midnight Haunting fit perfectly. Once you go wide, each swing snowballs your power to overwhelming levels. The vigilance on Kangee also ensures it’s always available to switch between attacking and blocking, giving the deck impressive flexibility.

#3. Errant and Giada

Errant and Giada thrives on instant-speed and flier synergies. It surprises opponents with flash, and its ability to let you cast spells with flash or flying from the top of your library keeps your deck flowing with options. It’s like having an extra card in hand at all times.

It pairs naturally with cards like Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior to slow opponents while you keep gaining value. Flash creatures like Restoration Angel or heavy hitters like Angel of Serenity become even better when you can play them straight from the top. Errant and Giada rewards you for flexibility, making your deck always feel like it's one step ahead.

#2. Kykar, Wind’s Fury

Every noncreature spell you cast with Kykar, Wind's Fury turns into a flier, making your board explode with tokens. Those spirits aren’t just chump blockers—they can be sacrificed for red mana, fueling even more spells and storm-style turns. It’s a natural fit for spellslinger strategies where every cantrip or removal spell multiplies your board.

The deck works beautifully with cards like Young Pyromancer or Talrand, Sky Summoner, adding redundancy to your token engines. Over time, Kykar overwhelms your opponents with both quantity and quality, turning every instant and sorcery into more pressure. It’s one of the most synergistic flier commanders out there.

#1. Alela, Artful Provocateur

Blending flier synergy with artifacts and enchantments, Alela, Artful Provocateur gives you incredible value every time you cast one of those spells. Each play adds a 1/1 faerie with flying to your board while Alela’s built-in anthem boosts all your fliers, letting you go wide with tokens and tall with stronger threats at the same time.

Most Alela decks lean into efficient enchantments like Bitterblossom or cheap artifacts such as Skullclamp, which keep the tokens flowing while providing extra value. Before long, every spell you cast snowballs the board into an evasive army. With lifelink, deathtouch, and flying, Alela itself doubles as a strong combat piece, making this commander as versatile as it is powerful.

Best Flying-Matters Payoffs

When you’re building around fliers, the best payoffs are the cards that turn those evasive attacks into steady streams of value. One of the most iconic is Coastal Piracy, which draws a card every time your creatures deal combat damage to an opponent. Its close cousin Bident of Thassa does the same thing but also forces your opponents to attack, which can swing a board state in your favor. These effects turn every hit in the air into card advantage, making it easy to stay ahead.

You’ll also find plenty of anthem-style boosts that reward you for going wide. Cards like Gravitational Shift and Favorable Winds pump your entire army of fliers, letting even 1/1 tokens become real threats. Together, these payoffs make flying decks feel both explosive and reliable, rewarding you for simply doing what they do best—attacking through the skies.

Commanding Conclusion

Inniaz, the Gale Force | Illustration by Livia Prima

There really aren’t many commanders that directly support the flying keyword. Some of the honorable mentions benefit from creatures with flying simply because of their evasion, but they aren’t true engines for dedicated flier strategies. What do you think—would you like to see more Commander support for this archetype in the future? Let us know your thoughts!

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